As a traditional, non-digital illustrator/painter (no Photoshop, Illustrator or Corel ... just oil and canvas), I have been commissioned by numerous publications from The New York Times to The Village Voice. For the last decade, I've been concentrating on painting larger canvases and exploring deadline/art director-free conceptual approaches.
Socio-political illustrative commentary ... shaken, not stirred.
UPCOMING Contreras Gallery
110 East 6th St.
Tucson AZ 85705
520-398-6557
When:
March 3 - 31, 2012
Tues.-Fri. 11-5, Sat. 11-4
Opening reception - Sat. March 3rd, 6-10 pm
ONGOING Ward-Nasse Gallery in Manhattan permanently holds a decade's representation of my work (with solo shows there in 2005 and 2007).
POP Gallery displays and represents my work in Santa Fe, NM.
BP'S CREAM
(at right) I was commissioned by Brazilian curator, Fernando Figueiredo, to do my own version of Edvard Munch's "The Scream." Fernando did not want to see any roughs and gave me the luxury of conceptualizing "The Scream" as I wished. I believe I'm the 7th or 8th artist he's commissioned with the same request.
I chose to address the recent British Petroleum oil spill. I came up with the name "BP'S CREAM" because the floating oil in the gulf reminded me of purple/black curdled cream floating on water, and it was a way to subtly work SCREAM into the title. I tried to echo much of the Edvard Munch design into my painting. The oil on the dolphin's torso mimics Munch's foreground figure's black shirt. Instead of the two dark figures walking on the left side of the bridge, there's an oil covered bird trying to clean his feathers. Where there are sailboats in Munch's painting, there's an oil rig. The letters bp are spelled out in the oily water ... the b echos the shape Munch has within the upper portion of the water in his painting.
That said, it appears the majority of news and imagery focuses on the human toll (real estate, tourist & fishing industry) of the worst oil spill in U.S. history. However, there's very little talk and art addressing the devastating impact on the wildlife. This commission was an opportunity to give them a voice.
